


to hide their stolen air

by oxymoronbby



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Allison and Neil are best friends, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Barista Andrew, M/M, No backstory trauma, Pining, coffee shop/flower shop, florist neil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:00:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26579482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oxymoronbby/pseuds/oxymoronbby
Summary: “Get a job”, he says as deadpan as possible, because, fuck’s sake, he wants Neil gone so bad.All Neil does is smile at him, taking his time. “I have a job. I’m on a break.”“How convenient.”
Relationships: Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 14
Kudos: 163





	to hide their stolen air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ennui_ephemera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ennui_ephemera/gifts).



> This is my gift for @ennui_ephemera ❣ I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for this! I'm not getting along with deadlines and I have to work on that.
> 
> This is also my first story written in English, so please tell me what you think about it.
> 
> Thank you Luci for looking over it!!

Neil Josten entered the coffee shop smiling shamelessly. Andrew couldn't hate him more. 

And is not only that he was Neil fucking Josten. It was the fact that Neil doesn’t usually smile. He’s quiet, angry looking, and more often than not, he’s so plain Andrew hates him more than ever only for that. For the invisibility Andrew can’t unsee. Andrew forces himself to focus on the task at hand, he has three customers facing him, his job is definitely more important than Neil fucking Josten. 

And all Neil does is make his way to a table and amiably starts a conversation with Nicky, so unaware of Andrew stabbing angry looks in both their heads. Neil already said that the only reason he sits foot into the cafe is to talk to Nicky, but he also told Renee he goes there only to see the flower designs he made for the tables, so with all the evidence Andrew got from last year study sessions with him, he can confidently say that he believes nothing Neil ever said.

When Neil finally looks his way, Andrew’s so angry that all he can do is narrow his eyes at him and keep working. All Neil does is smile a little softer. Andrew gets the sudden and unusual urge to roll his eyes. When all the customers are taken care of, he makes his way to Neil’s table when it’s obvious that Nicky is there just to chat and maybe gossip. 

“Get a job”, he says as deadpan as possible, because, fuck’s sake, he wants Neil gone so bad. 

All Neil does is smile at him, taking his time. “I have a job. I’m on a break.” 

“How convenient.” 

“Neil was just telling me Allison is opening her ‘Equality’ fashion line this weekend. Renee will be there, right? We have to go,” said Nicky and Andrew was so tired of the fast speaking that all he did was turn to Neil and make it obvious that he was there to take his order by pointing at the cafe’s logo, a coffee cup with a little orange fox inside, playing with coffee beans. He’ll never forgive Renee for that one.

“Maybe I’ll order if you answer Nicky’s question. Will you be there?”

“Maybe I’ll kick you out and just be done with you.”

“I’ll have my Thursday usual,” he said, vaguely. 

“Of course you’ll do.” It was Wednesday. Andrew was torn between the suspicion of Neil not knowing what day it was and the fact that he knew Neil was playing with his head. He was pretty sure not even Neil knew his ‘usuals.’ Andrew hated all of his fucking ‘usuals.’ 

***

The thing about Neil is that no one knew where he came from. He just kinda made a place in everyone’s lives, no questions asked. The single one that had a vague idea was Renee and the single one with all the answers was Allison and she’s never going to spill everything out, no matter the amount of money. The thing with Andrew is that he already heard it all from Neil. He knows about the rich parents, the expensive parties, the night Neil and Allison met and the next night when they joked about running away from that life. Stupid rich kids. Stupid rich kids that opened a fahion house and a flower shop, rich kids that listened when Renee said they should consider donating the money. Because they could. 

When his best friend, Renee Walker told him what her fiance, Allison Reynolds, was up to, he honestly wanted to be as far away from all that as possible. When he saw Neil Josten, just sitting there, smiling alongside Allison, he impulsively told Renee that he’ll need flower ornaments for his tables and that they’ll obviously need his help with all this. "A flower shop is not a business." Renee never said anything, not when she drops the flowers each Monday, not when she catches Andrew staring at the awful, annoying, infuriating redhead. Not even when Andrew tried to find that blue thing for Neil’s birthday. “Allison is a fashion designer and they are best friends. You don’t want Allison to make fun of him for wearing something atrocious, do you?” he said at the time, but the universe knows, Renee had all the rights to say something.

His day is boring and slow after Neil leaves but he makes himself busy by baking more cookies than they need and listening to Nicky’s awful jokes and stories from Germany. Nicky Hemmick is married to a german, Erik Klose, that Andrew only met once and with whom he wordlessly made a deal along the lines of ‘whoever hurts Nicky is dead, no questions asked’. Andrew knows that Erik doesn’t have the best impression about him and his twin, Aaron Minyard, but as long as he makes Nicky happy and he calls often enough to make Nicky put his own life on the first place and let Andrew alone, they have his approval, as unimportant as it is.

When he got home, in his little apartment with the wide windows and his books, he finally gave in and called Neil. 

Him and Neil had some classes together last year and often studied together in the days Neil would get tired of the library, when he would be so tired, Andrew’s dorm room would be just the perfect place. But this year Andrew took a gap year, bought the apartment and opened the coffee shop. It was too impulsive to be healthy, but he was still standing, so it was a win on his part. The single thing that he couldn’t do anymore was have Neil in his room, forcing him to try awful sweets and distracting each other from studying. 

It’s not like Andrew wanted to see him, but with Aaron and Kevin at the dorm and Nicky at their house in Columbia, it was—too quiet. 

***

Neil was closing the flower shop when he got the call from Andrew, but he was too happy to put everything aside and answer to even care. He rarely got calls from Andrew and, when he called, it was mostly about studying. 

Neil hoped it was about studying. 

"Want a lift from whatever club you got drugged up in again?" 

"I'm at the flower shop. Wanna give me a lift?" 

"Neil, you know I do everything for money."

"I'll pay you in ice-cream." Neil stopped. Maybe it was a too familiar line, he was playing with fire. He has been playing with fire for some months. "The good kind," he said, finally.

Andrew hung up, so Neil waited on the curb for the car to arrive and when it did he got into the passenger seat, all cozy and smelling of cigarettes. He missed it. 

He missed Andrew and it doesn't make sense. He saw him this afternoon, he saw him all summer, driving Kevin Day around for his exy practice, the same way everyone was driving everyone around. Renee was also on the team, alongside Allison, Dan Wilds, Matt Boyd, Aaron Minyard and Jeremy Knox. He heard that some Jean Moreau is gonna transfer to the team, but Neil didn't really care about them all. He wanted to play on the team at one point but something always stopped him. The few years on the high ranked junior exy team were still enough to calm his hunger for just a little more time. 

"Where to?" he asked. 

"I thought you were buying me ice-cream, isn't that the deal?" and the voice Andrew used, so condescending, so not him, made Neil laugh a little and wonder, how the hell weren't they doing this more often. 

"Yes, of course, the beast must be fed."

Andrew laughed and then looked so surprised that it almost made Neil laugh. And so they got the ice-cream (something Halloween related that Andrew hated and Neil was too excited about) and they got to Andrew's apartment and Neil studied and Andrew made all kinds of comments, either to the TV or to Neil. He remembered falling asleep and his shoes getting taken off. And he felt safe, vaguely safe. 

***

The next day, after Andrew dropped him off at the flower shop, Neil couldn't stop thinking. It wasn't the first time he slept at Andrew's place, but a dorm room and an apartment were two different things. A sofa and a wooden floor were also two different things. And the coffee he had this morning was new. 

Needless to say, it was as if this whole friendship that isn't, got to the next level and Neil didn't know how to act. 

He spent his day getting too many ornaments messed up and too much unused energy, so he closed the shop and went on the twenty minutes walk to the cafe. He needed to do something and if that included seeing Andrew, well, it was a coincidence. 

But when he got there he was so disappointed he almost turned back. At the counter it was Aaron and he could hear Nicky in the back, so Andrew was not here. This particular coffee shop had Andrew's organized chaos, with the place looking almost like a living room, with rich, dark colors. It also had an interesting schedule. It opened before 1 PM and closed after 9 PM but no one knew the exact hour and it was almost like Andrew didn't want people to come and get coffee, because it wasn't open in the morning and it wasn't open at night, when most students wanted it. So, many of his customers were just people actually enjoying coffee or a cup of tea and Andrew's baked cookies. 

But Aaron was here, which meant Andrew wasn't, which meant Nicky was making a mess in the back with the oven. 

The unused energy was screaming at him, so Neil went to the back, saying a short and stiff 'hi' to Aaron because he was still angry he wasn't Andrew, and literally shoved Nicky out of the kitchen. He knew Andrew for long enough that he had more than an idea about baking and, honestly, food in general. Nicky's burned cookies only gave him more determination. 

After half an hour, Aaron stuck his head through the door and said nothing. He got 7 full trays before he heard Aaron muttering "Not even surprised. I'm not even surprised at this point." Then he looked up and directly at Neil. "Should I make a snarky comment? Is it rude to make a snarky comment?" and at that Neil could hear Nicky's surprised laugh. When he came over, Nicky only said "Thank you Neil. You're a saviour." 

Afterwards Neil saw no reason to leave. It was much funnier to antagonize Aaron everytime a new customer came in than focus on the ornaments that were making no sense right now. He loved flowers, he really did, it was the reason he told Allison a flower shop would be a cool addition to their plan. But there were some things called breaks and he was having one right there. 

When Andrew came back Neil was behind the counter, having a fight with a customer. It was honestly dumb luck for that person, otherwise Neil would have taken care of it. 

"Stop scaring my customers away," he said but no one said sorry. 

Neil was so happy to see him, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I believe I'm lost," Neil said. "Give me a lift to the flower shop?" 

"Get a car, junkie," he said, but he already had the keys in his hand, staring at Neil like he was just waiting for him to get in the car. 

Nicky told him once that Neil was the single other person Andrew made a key for, and then, the single other person that ever drove his car. Neil didn't know how to feel about it. Especially when Andrew threw the keys at him and made his way to the passenger sit. 

"You'll buy your own car," Andrew said but it was such an easy line that Neil found it hard to take it as a threat. 

All the way down to the flower shop it was silence and peace. It was breathing room. He didn't feel so at ease all day. He kept stealing glances at Andrew but the blond was looking out the window, unaware of all the emotions Neil got through. 

"Where were you today?" 

"None of your business. Pay attention to the road."

"If you want a safe drive, you should put your belt on." When Andrew finally looked his way Neil almost drove into a trash can. How fitting. 

"You've got a lot of nerve." That was a threat, obviously, but Neil only smiled a little. 

"I like to believe I have a personality."

"You have an attitude problem, that's what you have." Andrew was back at looking out the window. 

Neil only said "That too," and kept driving. 

***

At the shop Neil got out of the car and said "Stay?" and Andrew was suddenly aware of the thing Allison once told Renee, "Stay here, with me?" Andrew wanted to break his face right there. 

"Not tonight," he said and then got into the driver seat. 

"I could use some help closing."

"You'll be fine," and he finally gave in and rolled his eyes. 

"Renee bought some hot chocolate. If you want, that is."

"I have everything I need at the shop."

"You're going back to the shop?" Neil asked. 

Andrew only stared at him. 

"What do you want, Neil?" 

"Aaron can take care of the cafe just fine."

"He has an exam tomorrow." 

"Good thing the coffee shop closes before 9."

"After 9," he said, but he got out of the car and made his way into the flower shop. Renee knew his favorite kind of chocolate. Damn friends and annoying boys with blue eyes. 

After Andrew made two cups of sweet hot chocolate, they sipped it quietly, Neil making a face every now and then. He was never a fanatic for sweet things and this was as sweet as Andrew could make it. That'll teach him. 

"Wanna study tonight?" Neil asked. 

Andrew stopped. He honestly didn't have the heart to remind him he wasn't in college anymore. He wanted to spend time with Neil as much as Neil seemed to want to spend time with him. He wanted to make fun of his hair in the morning and watch him make dinner and—fuck, it was bad. 

"You still have to close the shop."

"You'll wait, I know you will." 

He was too confident for a man whose dreams could be shattered faster than glass. 

"What do you have to study?" 

"Anatomy."

"Not asking Aaron? He's the medic of the family." 

"I don't need help," Neil said. "Just company."

Andrew muttered a curse under his breath and made his way to the door. When Neil finally joined him in the car he was so nervous he almost shoved him out. It's not like something will happen. Nothing is gonna happen. But the idea of a nice evening in, with Neil, was almost too much. When did this friendship grow like that? At what point did they lose themselves along the way? 

"Are we gonna finish that movie?" Neil asked. They started a movie once, something about an army of immortals. But they never finished it because Neil fell asleep. 

"That was months ago."

"It was a good movie." 

"Not that you would know." 

Neil turned his head so fast Andrew could basically hear his neck breaking. 

"I don't plan on falling asleep."

"And still, here we are," Andrew pointed. 

"We'll watch the movie," Neil said stubbornly.

"Then let's go to your place." 

"N-no." Andrew turned towards him and saw Neil's blushing face and big eyes facing forward. When Neil became aware of the attention he only said softly "I like your place better," and then said nothing all the way to Andrew's apartment. 

When they made it inside all Andrew said was "I'm taking a shower," so Neil made his place on the sofa, took his books from God knows where he keeps them and opened the TV. 

"Your hair looks really soft after you wash it," was the first thing Neil said when he came back. 

All Andrew did was sit besides him on the sofa and cover them both with the fluffy blanket Neil got him for his birthday. He said "Yes" and Neil touched his hair, so calmly and softly that Andrew wanted to both kill and die. 

"You smell really nice," Andrew said. He wanted to take it back right away but Neil was already looking at him with that face and Andrew couldn't say anything more. 

"I helped Nicky today. In the kitchen." 

It was too much. It was all too much. They were so close, it was warm and soft all around them. 

"Yes or no?" he asked. And when Neil said yes, he kissed him. Once. Twice. He couldn't get enough of it. 

It almost looked like there was a chance for them. 


End file.
